Fixing device for securing an actuating cable

ABSTRACT

A fastening device for fixing a cable to a shift actuating means or a transmission of a motor vehicle is presented, which has a jacket end piece ( 5 ) jacketing the cable and a mounting element ( 6 ) accommodating the jacket end piece at the shift actuating means or the transmission. The fastening device is characterized according to the present invention in that the jacket end piece ( 5 ) has a circular groove ( 13 ) and the mounting element ( 6 ) has at least one projection ( 16, 17 ) engaging the groove in the fixed state of the cable ( 1 ), and that the mounting element ( 6 ) is provided with at least one spring element ( 7, 8 ) located in a plane extending in parallel to the plane of the groove.  
     The design according to the present invention makes it possible to introduce a cable into a fastening device without taking into account its rotational position and to fix it there.

[0001] The present invention pertains to a fastening device for fixing a cable at a shift actuating means or a transmission with a jacket end piece jacketing the end area of the cable and with a mounting element accommodating the jacket end piece at the shift actuating means or at the transmission.

[0002] Fastening devices of the type described in the introduction are preferably used to fix cables for transmitting movements of a gearshift lever to an associated motor vehicle transmission. Solutions have been known here in which the fastening device is designed as a so-called bayonet connection, in which the jacket end piece and the mount belonging to it must be aligned in a certain direction in relation to one another, so that the corresponding active surfaces on the individual components can be locked with one another to fix the cable and are thus secured against separation. It is problematic in such solutions that if the cable is mounted early during the manufacture of the vehicle, its alignment is often not taken into account. Problems will therefore occur again and again during the subsequent assembly of the transmission and the shifting device, because readjustment of the cable must be performed, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the cable is often subject to pretension in the locked state.

[0003] The object of the present invention is therefore to improve a fastening device of the type of this class such that problem-free fixing of the cable at the shifting device of the transmission is made possible under all prevailing assembly conditions and, moreover, a fastening device is provided that permits inexpensive manufacture because of its simple design and the small number of components it comprises.

[0004] This object is accomplished in conjunction with the class-forming features by the technical teaching of the characterizing part of claim 1.

[0005] According to the technical teaching, the jacket end piece has a circular groove and the mounting element has at least one projection engaging the groove in the fixed state of the cable, and the mounting element is provided with at least one spring element located in a plane extending in parallel to the plane of the groove. Thus, a distance corresponding to the installation conditions may be present between the said planes. The groove may be designed, e.g., as an annular groove and may be arranged essentially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the cable or coaxially to the longitudinal axis of the cable.

[0006] This combination of the features makes it possible to ignore a special installation position of the cable. Regardless of the rotational position of the cable to be mounted, the projection has the possibility of bringing about the fixation of the cable in the axial direction due to the circular shape of the groove, and the spring element prevents the jacket end piece from slipping out of the groove.

[0007] Special embodiments of the subject of the present invention appear additionally from the features of the subclaims.

[0008] It proved to be advantageous, in particular, for the spring element to have two spring tongues located diametrically opposite each other.

[0009] A preferred embodiment of the subject of the present invention provides, moreover, for the spring element to have an essentially U-shaped recess with a bottom area and two elastic leg areas located opposite each other, the said leg areas forming the spring tongues and the bottom area having an annular shape adapted to the external diameter of the jacket end piece. The U-shaped form of the recess of the spring element makes it possible to easily introduce the jacket end piece between the spring tongues located opposite each other, and it makes possible at the same time the secure fixation in the bottom area of the mounting element.

[0010] In the cases in which the shift actuating means or transmission assembly unit has a plastic housing, the mounting element may be made in one piece with the respective housing together with the spring element. The number of individual components can thus be reduced further and the mounting of the cable can be simplified.

[0011] Should the housing of the shifting device be made of a metallic material, the spring element may be manufactured from an elastically deformable plastic or an elastic metal.

[0012] Two exemplary embodiments of the subject of the present invention will be explained in greater detail below on the basis of the drawings attached. In the drawings,

[0013]FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment variant of the subject of the present invention,

[0014]FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of another embodiment variant, FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the end area of the cable to be fastened, and

[0015]FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a part of the fastening device.

[0016] The view in FIG. 1 shows a cable 1 with a fastening lug 2 recognizable thereon for coupling the cable to a shifting device or the actuating lever of a transmission, which is fixed to a shift actuating means or a transmission of a motor vehicle, not shown more specifically, by means of a fastening device designated by 3 in its entirety. The cable 1 has a jacket 4, to which a jacket end piece 5 is fastened. The jacket end piece 5 is in turn accommodated in a mounting element 6. The mounting element 6 comprises a spring element 15 and two projections 16 and 17, which act as lateral limitations of a U-shaped recess and which engage a circular groove 13 on the jacket end piece 5 in the mounted state of the cable and thus prevent the jacket end piece 5 from being axially displaced in the longitudinal axis of the cable.

[0017] The spring element has an essentially angular shape with two legs 9 and 10 extending at an angle of 90° in relation to one another. The leg 9 of the spring element 15 is fixed to a housing part 11 of the shift actuating means here. The approximately vertically extending leg 10 arranged at an angle of 90° accommodates, as is apparent from FIG. 1, the outer surface of the jacket end piece 5 in an essentially U-shaped recess 18. As a result, the leg 10 forms two spring tongues 7 and 8, which prevent the jacket end piece from slipping out of the intermediate space between the spring tongues 7, 8 of the spring element in the mounted state. The cable 1 is mounted by pushing the jacket end piece provided with the groove 13 into the U-shaped recess 12 of the mounting element 6, and the external diameter of the now cylindrical jacket end piece 5 is inserted at the same time into the recess 18 of the spring element 15.

[0018]FIG. 2 shows another embodiment variant of the fastening device, in which the cable 1 with the jacket 4 and the jacket end piece 5 correspond to those in FIG. 1, but the mounting element 6 has a different design. The embodiment variant according to FIG. 2 pertains to shift actuating means whose housing 11 is manufactured from plastic. The plastic material of the housing part 11 makes it possible to manufacture the spring tongues 7 and 8 as well as the projections 16 and 17 in one piece therewith. The spring tongues 7 and 8 have an essentially rectangular shape in this exemplary embodiment and protrude on the inside from an essentially U-shaped recess 14 of the housing part 11. With their projecting free ends, the spring tongues 7 and 8 extend over the jacket end piece 5 in its installation position analogously to the view in FIG. 1.

[0019] The end of the cable 1, which end is to be fixed to the shift actuating means, is shown once again in the view in FIG. 3 without adjoining components. The circular groove 13 of the jacket end piece 5, which makes it possible to fix the cable at the shift actuating means of a transmission in conjunction with the spring tongues described above, is shown clearly once again in this figure.

[0020]FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a detail of a fastening device according to FIG. 1, but without the cable accommodated therein. The spring element 15 has two spring tongues 7 and 8 here, which are separated by a slot-like recess 18. Over its further course, the recess 18 passes over into a circular opening, whose diameter corresponds to the dimensions of the outer surface of the jacket end piece 5. The width of the recess 12 of the mounting element 6, which is recognizable in the perspective view behind the spring steel sheet 15, approximately corresponds here to the bottom diameter of the groove 13. The cable is thus secured in the axial direction in the mounting element by means of the groove connection of its jacket end piece 5, and the spring element 15 is used to prevent the jacket end piece 5 and consequently the cable 1 from loosening spontaneously from the recess 12. Thus, it forms a means for protection against loss.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0021] 1 Cable

[0022] 2 Fastening lug

[0023] 3 Fastening device

[0024] 4 Jacket

[0025] 5 Jacket end piece

[0026] 6 Mounting element

[0027] 7 Spring tongue

[0028] 8 Spring tongue

[0029] 9 Leg

[0030] 10 Leg

[0031] 11 Housing part

[0032] 12 Recess

[0033] 13 Groove

[0034] 14 Recess

[0035] 15 Spring element

[0036] 16 Projection

[0037] 17 Projection

[0038] 18 Recess 

1. Fastening device for fixing a cable to a shift actuating means or a transmission with a jacket end piece jacketing the cable and with a mounting element accommodating the jacket end piece at the shift actuating means or the transmission, characterized in that the said jacket end piece (5) has a said circular groove (13) and the said mounting element (6) has at least one said projection (16, 17), which engages the said groove (13) in the fixed state of the said cable (1), and that the said mounting element (6) is provided with at least one said spring element (15) located in a plane extending in parallel to the plane of the groove.
 2. Fastening device in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the said spring element (15) has two said spring tongues (7, 8) located diametrically opposite each other.
 3. Fastening device in accordance with claim 2, characterized in that the said spring element (15) has a said, essentially U-shaped recess (18) with a bottom area and two elastic leg areas located opposite each other, wherein the leg areas form the said spring tongues (7, 8) and the bottom area has an annular size [shape—Tr.Ed.] adapted to the external diameter of the said jacket end piece (5).
 4. Fastening device in accordance with one of the claims 1 through 3, characterized in that together with the said spring element (15), the said mounting element (6) is made in one piece with the shift actuating means.
 5. Fastening device in accordance with one of the claims 1 through 3, characterized in that the said spring element (15) consists of an elastically deformable plastic.
 6. Fastening device in accordance with one of the claims 1 through 3, characterized in that the said spring element (15) consists of an elastic metal. 